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Whether it is bread and pastries from bakeries, fresh produce or meat brought in from the countryside, fish from the Atlantic and the Mediterranean, clothing, or any other product of craftsmanship, all can be found on display in stalls and small shops lining the crowded streets of the souk. Once again, the dual nature of Moroccan life and culture, with its mixture of modern and traditional, is visible in the way traditional shops, that still cater to the local population and whose appearance has probably not changed much in the last hundred years, coexist with boutiques that aim to attract the crowds of tourists looking for a souvenir. If you are brave, you can even try sampling some of the food from one of the many shops purveying snails, camel stew, beef and ram head, and other assorted local specialties. For a limited time, I am offering an ebook containing the text of all the articles and many more photos for free.

This is especially true of Fes, home to nearly 1,000,000 people, a city that boasts the largest medina in all of the Arab world. Contrary to medinas such as Marrakech, which have moved their artisanal laboratories outside the city to make space for shops catering mostly to tourists, many of Fes’ activities have remained inside the ancient walls that encircle the old city. One just has to visit the cloth dyers quarter, where residues of the dyeing process, utilizing antimony, color everything black before being flushed from the laboratories and into the street gutters. I would like to thank Christin McLeod for providing invaluable help in proofreading and editing the text of these articles.

The mixture of ancient and modern worlds that is characteristic of Morocco reveals itself in the hustle and bustle of the streets of the medina. Youngsters with jeans and sneakers mingle with older folks in djellabas, while workers on the go check their smartphones in front of a cup of mint tea. These same tourists are the preferred audience of the snake charmers and street performers of the square El Hedhim in Meknès. But with a boutique hotel, a restaurant, and a souvenir shop at every corner, one cannot help but wonder how much of this is truly original and how much is staged for the benefit of foreigners.

It offers a unique ethnic diversity, which weaves together a rich tapestry of Arab, indigenous Berber, Sub-Saharan African, and European cultures. To successfully capture street portraits, one must have mastered the art of asking people on the street for a portrait and have the ability to capture them at their best, preferably showing some context. The man selling what we could only assume was some kind of snake oil in Meknès’ main square was demanding our attention, and a photograph or two was quickly and silently negotiated in exchange for it. For a limited time, I am offering an ebook containing the text of all the articles and many more photos for free.